The union said it could return to industrial action without further warning over the incomplete implementation of the December 2025 agreement, the payment of the remaining 3.5 months of withheld salaries and the failure to remit billions of naira deducted from lecturers’ earnings.
The warning was contained in a statement issued by ASUU President, Christopher Piwuna, in the early hours of Friday following an emergency meeting of the union’s National Executive Council at the University of Abuja.
ASUU said the 2025 agreement was reached after more than eight years of negotiations but remained only partially implemented by the Federal Government and several state governments.
The union called for immediate and comprehensive action on issues relating to the welfare and working conditions of academics, warning that failure to address them could trigger another nationwide strike.
It, however, commended Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, as well as the governments of Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Benue, Yobe, Adamawa, Kebbi, Katsina and Borno for beginning the implementation of the agreement.
According to ASUU, Kano, Edo, Plateau, Taraba, Gombe and Bayelsa states have also indicated plans to begin implementation in September or October. It urged the remaining states to act promptly to prevent their universities from being plunged into a major industrial crisis.
On withheld salaries, the union acknowledged that the administration of President Bola Tinubu had released four of the 7.5 months of salaries withheld during the previous administration of Muhammadu Buhari.
However, ASUU demanded the immediate payment of the outstanding 3.5 months, arguing that withholding the balance undermined the administration’s claim of being labour-friendly.
The union also raised concerns over the alleged non-remittance of pension contributions, cooperative deductions and union check-off dues deducted from lecturers’ salaries, saying the outstanding funds run into billions of naira.
ASUU warned that the unresolved salary issues, unremitted deductions and incomplete implementation of the 2025 agreement were increasingly threatening industrial harmony across the country’s public universities.
It described the inconsistent implementation of the agreement by federal and state authorities as a potential trigger for another major dispute in the university system.
The union therefore urged the authorities to take immediate steps to resolve the outstanding matters, stressing that it would not be held responsible if the suspended industrial action was reinstated.
ASUU said its National Executive Council had resolved that the union could activate the suspended strike without further notice if the issues were not addressed within the shortest possible time.
